Being Mrs Dantata

43

It was the morning of Thursday, April 21st which was the 20th day of Ramadan and Hanan was already tired. There had been a number of proposals and contracts for her go through so she had been working since she arrived at 9AM. She paused at intervals to disturb Zayd via phone calls, knowing he was being very patient with her as he was also having a busy day.

It was the best she could do though because Amal was all the way in Lagos for work-related stuff and Hanan missed her like crazy. Both women had been unable to talk for long because Amal was extremely busy and had been that way all week. Hanan hated it so much.

She raised her head when the door went open after being knocked on. Jonathan smiled as he walked in. "Hi, Mum to be."

Hanan tried to smile back but her emotions were all over the place and she really did not want to cry. "Hi."

"Still missing her?"

She sighed and turned back to the estate interior proposal the company had gotten the day before. "You have no idea."

Jonathan occupied one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. "Have you two spoken this morning?"

She shook her head. "No, we haven't. She sent a text though and I replied but she hasn't seen that yet." She closed the document with a sigh and gave him her full attention. "What's up?"

"You seemed to have forgotten we have a meeting with Cosgrove in five minutes so I came to get you."

Her eyes widened and she pushed her chair back. "Oh my God!" She stood. "Are they here already?"

Jonathan shook his head and stood, smiling at her. "No, but they're on their way. Relax, Hanan. You've been busy so it's quite normal you forgot. Mufeeda was going to fetch you once it was midday but I told her it's better if we let you get five minutes to prepare in case you did forget. I'm glad I did."

She exhaled, clearly relieved. "Thank you, Jonathan."

"You're welcome...How are my babies doing today?"

"They're calm." She replied, adjusting her veil. "They've allowed me work today. I've just been the one disturbing Sa'ed."

"As you should. You're carrying his kids so he doesn't have the mind to complain."

She laughed, fetching a file from one of the drawers. "I might be overdoing it today but I just really miss Amal and –"

A knock on the door cut her off and they both turned. Mufeeda opened the door and stepped aside to allow a delivery man walk in. He held a box and a paper bag that contained a disposable cup and straw. He smiled at them. "Good afternoon. This is for Hanan Dantata."

Hanan blinked. "Who's it from?"

"Amal Dantata." He replied, putting down the box and the paper bag on the table. He then reached into the inner pocket of the jacket he wore and pulled out a white envelope. He handed it to her. "This was the attached message. She told me to bring it here before noon but there was traffic so I'm sorry it's coming very close to the deadline I was given."

Jonathan tried to understand everything. "Isn't Amal in Lagos?"

The delivery man stepped back, nodding. "She is. You'll understand everything when you read the message she sent. I have to go now to run more errands."

Hanan nodded slowly, already distracted with the envelope she held. "Thank you."

Mufeeda saw the delivery man out and while Jonathan opened the box to reveal twelve chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and then the paper bag to reveal a cup of beetroot smoothie, Hanan opened the envelope and fished out the letter that had been typed and printed. She smiled the minute she began to read.